New Delhi: A delegation of the Shiv Sena (UBT) urged President Droupadi Murmu to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss Maratha community’s agitation over reservation.
The delegation that met the president on Saturday explained Maharashra is going through turmoil and stressed the need for the urgent session to increase quota limit for the state, The Indian Express reported.
The UBT leadership that met the president includes Sena MPs and leaders like Sanjay Raut, Vinayak Raut, Arvind Sawant, Rajan Vichare, Sanjay Jadhav, Omraje Nimbalkar, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ambadas Danve, Anil Parab, Sunil Prabhu, and Ajay Chaudhary.
‘During our discussion with the President, we urged the President to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the issue of reservation. And it should be convened at the earliest so that things do not go out of hand. Currently, Maharashtra is going through turmoil and there is a need for urgent measures to increase public confidence,’ The Indian Express quoted Raut as saying.
The delegation, according to Raut, communicated to the president that unless the quota limit was not increased to accommodate different communities’ demands the issue could not be solved.
Raut added the delegation brought to the attention of the president the demands by Maratha and Dhangar communities.
‘We told the President that in Maharashtra, on the one hand, farmer suicides are increasing and on the other hand, the youth is hit hard due to growing unemployment. Be it farmers or the youth, everyone is battling for survival. The caste-based reservation has assumed dangerous proportions… We placed the facts before the President,’ he was quoted as saying.
Expressing confidence for a breakthrough, Raut said that only the Centre’s initiative will help solve the issue, because it is not in the hands of the state government.
‘The state legislature can pass a resolution for granting reservation. But a law is required on this front. There is a need for a constitutional amendment to increase the quota limit. How much the quota limit should be increased can be debated in Parliament first and then a decision can be taken on it. Increasing the quota limit at this juncture seems to be the only solution to the reservation row,’ he was quoted as saying.